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Monday, July 15, 2013

Turtle Hatchery and Turtle Watching at Kemaman, Terenggany as the highlight of the KCC1M Terengganu 2013

Turtle Hatchery

The first thing I noticed when I step
at the Turtle Sanctuary Centre at Pantat Teluk Mak Nik, Geliga, Kemaman,
Terengganu are rows and rows of nests in the Turtle Hatchery shed. It is an
indication that many turtles have laid their eggs in the surrounding beach
areas of Geliga.The eggs are usually
buried about 80 cm from the surface, any deeper the baby turtles have to work
harder to climb to the surface.

Turtle Sanctuary Centre, Kemaman

Turtle Sanctuary Centre, Kemaman

Turtle Sanctuary Centre, Kemaman

Each nest will have a small label
that state the number of eggs and the birthdate. Each egg takes between 45 and
60 days to be incubated.

The label

The Birth ....

The Birth ....

The Birth ....

The Birth ....

The sex of the eggs can be determined
by the humidity in the nests and incubation period. For female turtles, high
humidity between 45 to 50 days is required whereas male turtles require low
humidity with longer gestation time between 50 to 60 days. In its natural
course in life, the mother turtle will determine the sexes of her babies by her
choice of nesting spots. Eggs laid closer to the beach (cooler) will likely be
males whereas on higher ground (hotter) are females.

A protective cylindrical wire
meshing is placed around each nest so that when the baby turtles burst out from
its nest, it will be contained in the area. These babies seem to hatch all at
once and in no time, the mesh is filled with wriggling and energetic baby
turtles.

The adorable baby turtles

With permission from my guide, Pak
Su, I get to touch and hold a baby turtle. It doesn’t have a soft belly and a
very hard shell. I am told that the sex organ is underneath its tail – hard to
see as the baby turtle is so fidgety! I have to hold the baby turtle in between
my two fingers, making sure that I don’t squeeze it too tight. It is quite a
struggle at first because it seems to paddle like a wound up mechanical toy.
Actually, it is just its instinct to swim!

Wan Junior, the Baby turtle

Wan Junior, the Baby Turtle

The right way to hold a baby turtle

The right way to hold a baby turtle

After the photo session with “Wan
Junior” – I decide to name it after me - it is time to place it back to its
nest for head count by the ranger before he collects it in a basket to be
released on the beach.

Zulfa collecting the Baby Turtles

Release of the baby turtle

For the release of the baby turtles
at the beach, we were asked to stand in one straight row 10 meters away from
the edge of the water. This is because the baby turtles need enough strength to
enter the water.

Getting ready ...

Bye2 Wan Junior II ...

Go Baby go ...

Pak Su told us that while out at sea
for at least 3 days, the baby turtle lives solely on its yolk in its belly.
Only one out of one thousand baby turtles that return back to the sea will
survive. It is so tiny that it is an easy target to gulls, sharks, other larger
fishes, octopus, you name it. That is not counting, the ones that is been
stepped on by enthusiastic “parents” taking photos of “their babies” on their
journey to the unknown. If the survivor is female, she will be back to the same
beach after 25 years. But if it is a male turtle, it won’t be back because it
spends all its life in the sea, even mating.

It seems that the baby turtles wobble
helter-skelter all over the beach all the way to the water. The truth is these
babies cannot see anything at the moment because they are just being born between
2 to 3 hours ago. It is my responsibility to direct them to the sea.

Bye-bye, Wan Junior II

Bye-bye, Wan Junior II

At night, the ranger will use a
torch light from the edge of the sea to assist them to their “new” home. Only
then you will see that the baby turtles follow the light in an orderly manner, more
or less.

Release at night ...

Turtle laying eggs

According to the Pak Su, our guide
who is the key figure in the conservation of turtles in Terengganu (Geliga) and
Pahang (Chendor and Cherating), the best time to come and see turtle laying
their eggs is between April until August. I was there on 17 June 2013 at Pantai
Telok Mak Nik, or more popularly known as Monica Bay. It is the best beach on
the mainland for the turtle; otherwise the mother turtle will choose the island
during the nesting season. So far, the landing record is on 28 May 2013 with 22
landings that night.

Most of the turtle that lands on the
Pantai Teluk Mak Nik is the Green Turtle or Penyu
Agar to the locals, which measures about 80 to 15cm and weighs up to 130kg
only – The Giant Leatherback Turtle’s weight can reach to 810kg. The mature
female turtle lays eggs approximately every 3 years from 1 to 6 nests per
season between 70 and 110 eggs each time. Its current age of sexual maturity is
45 to 50 years.

Normally the same turtle will lay
their eggs on the same beach, though different spot, every 10 night. It was
recorded, from a tagged turtle with satellite tracking applicator, that she was
on the beach on 9 March 2010 and return to the same beach on 10 March 2013.
Such excellent natural instinct!! These female turtles feed mainly on sea
grasses or algae, mostly in the tropics and subtropics, which makes it the only
truly herbivorous marine turtles. She migrate long distances between feeding
grounds and nesting areas but tend to follow the coast lines rather than the
open water.

In conserving the turtle at the
Pantai Teluk Mak Nik, only qualified nature guides are allowed on the turtle
nesting area to control the number and conduct of the tourists that comes every
night. These turtle are sensitive to light, sound and touch. They may stop
coming to this area; like what happened to Rantau Abang spawning area with
drastic drop of around 11,000 nests in the 1950s to less than 10 nests in 1999.
Even the eggs are sensitive; some of the eggs do not hatch due to bad handling
from the nest to the hatchery.

It is not necessary to wait at the
beach the whole night. The tourist will be informed by the guide once a turtle
is spotted. Although the mother turtle come up from the sea around 9.00pm and
9,30pm, sometimes there is no sighting at all especially at the end of the
nesting season.

My KCC1M group was rather late for
the Turtle Watching as we were so awestruck with the “Christmas Tree” of
Fireflies at the Sungai Yak Yah, Kampung Mak Cili, Kemaman. When we arrived at
the Pantai Mak Nik, we were taken on a wild goose chase for the Turtle Laying
session. What I saw were many turtle tracks along the beach; some of which had
made Uturns, maybe due to its insecurity to the noise level, camera flashing,
human movement or the spot was not suitable. At one instance, a few
participants and I were lost from our group which was wandering around in the
pitch dark. Hence all of us didn’t get to see any turtle laying its eggs.

When we were reunited with our
guide, Pak Su, we were told that the whole process takes about 3 hours,
starting from the turtle digging the holes with its flipper to returning to the
sea. Tourists are only allowed to see the turtle after it has dug a hole and
began laying eggs. The big hole was for herself and another smaller hole – the egg
chamber – for the eggs. Even then, you must adhere to the strict instructions
by the guide. No riding on the turtle! No flash, only light, as this will
aggravates her! Be quiet! No touching the eggs! This process will take about
half an hour. If you look carefully, you will see “tears” which is actually salt
that was accumulating in its body. It helps to protect her eyes from the sands.

Since it takes some time for the
mother turtle to cover the holes, Pak Su let us on another round of releasing
baby turtles. Once that is done, we were led to another mother turtle returning
to sea. It is such a moving experience as I understand that once she left the
nest, she never returns to tend it. That is the natural life cycle of a mother
turtle and her eggs! No psychological research has been done on these endangered
species.

The journey ....

The journey ....

The journey ....

The journey ....

The journey ....

The journey ...

If you want to participate in this
Turtle Watching experience in Malaysia as part of your 1001-things-to-do List,
please contact me – Wan - at 03-2260 3667 / 4667 / 016-238 6433 / 017-370 3411 or email leisureincentivetours@gmail.com for more
information on this special tailored-made “Adventure” package. Don’t wait because
Turtles can become extinct any time from the face of this aging earth!!